dado blades

[paul cottingham]

So, if you are willing to use a shoulder plane to clean up, are dado blades pretty much the same? I know a $300 will likely last much longer than a $100 one, but is it that much better?

[Paul Murphy]

Where the premium blades really earn their purchase price is in crosscut dados of brittle hardwoods and expensive veneered plywood. Oak plywood is sometimes difficult to crosscut cleanly for example. If you work with more forgiving wood you probably don't need to spend top $ on your dado set. My priority on dado cut quality is the visable edge, and am less worried about a perfectly level bottom.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Most likely a $300 set won't last longer, but give cleaner cuts with less chipping on the face. I own five different sets (Forrest Dado King, Freud SD208, Freud Safety Dado set, Freud Dial a Width, and a HF cheapie. The SD208 gets the most use.

[Van Huskey]

Paul pretty much nailed it, if the woods you work with don't tearout easily nor do you use plywood a mid-priced set is fine. I have used several sets over the years and IMO the Dado King is the best with the Freud 500 series and Infinity Dadonator right behind. Currently, I have the DK for fussy stuff and use the Freud 208 for the rest.

[paul cottingham]

I mostly work with maple, oak and good quality plywood. Any suggestions? I like the sound of the Freud, but will it be ok with ply?

Thanks for this.

[Neil Brooks]

I'm totally bought into the mythology surrounding the Dado King.

I've never found a fault with it ... once I cleared that Visa bill ;)

[Gil Knowles]

Paul
I have the Freud SD508 and am very happy with the cuts. It cuts well in all solid woods and plywood. Previously I had a cheap dado set and while I did not really want to pay as much as I did for the Freud I am glad I did. The difference between the sets are night and day.

Gil

[Mike Ashton]

I have the SD508 as well, picked it up last winter at Rockler when they had that rare 25% off coupon. I just used it over the weekend on Walnut ply and had excellent results. Extremely flat bottom and very clean edges. We are getting close to the holidays, might want to wait if you can to see if that deal comes back around.

[scott spencer]

Dado sets can get really expensive so it's difficult to try many of them. There's definitely a point of diminishing returns as you spend more, but it's often more expensive in the long run to spend too little also. The odds start stacking against getting long term quality results when you spend much below around $75 for a set. Most of the premium sets seem fall near the $200 mark...I'm not sure what spending more really gets though.

I've had a Freud SD208 with 12T outside cutters and 2T inside chippers that does a pretty decent job for < $100...I also hear good reports about the Oshlun set in the $75 range, which is a cheaper copy of the Systimatic Superfine set. My 2nd set was a DeWalt 7670 with 24T cutters and 4T chippers....it offered a little cleaner cut than the SD208 for a tad over $100, and had nice shim stock and a really great carrying case....a great set in this price range IMHO. My 3rd set was the Systimatic Superfine 42T/6T set that retails in the $300 range (I got it for less)...it was incrementally better than the DW760 set, but the shim stock wasn't as good and it didn't have a case at all. My 4th and current set is the Infinity Dadonator with 24T outside cutters and 6T inside chippers, and is pretty impressive. I definitely leaves cleaner cuts than even the excellent Systimatic set, but it also has no carrying case. I'm sure the top sets from Ridge Carbide, Forrest, Freud, CMT, and Amana are also excellent, but it's honestly hard for me to imagine any of them eclipsing the performance of the Dadonator.

So, does spending twice as much for something like the Dadonator get me twice the performance of a good set like the $90 Freud? Probably not, but it does offer noticeably better performance, should stay sharp longer, and is an absolute pleasure to use, so I consider an extra $90 well spent in this case.

[paul cottingham]

Anyone have an opinion of the dado sets sold by lee valley?

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=30061&cat=1,41080,41165&ap=1

[scott spencer]

Looks pretty spendy for a set using 2-tooth chippers. That price point puts you well into the well proven premium blades from Infinity, Freud, Forrest, CMT, Amana, Ridge Carbide, and possibly even Dimar and FS Tool in Canada.